Breaking down Dorna’s €9m MotoGP financial aid package

Last week, Dorna confirmed it would be offering financial assistance to all independent MotoGP teams – LCR, Pramac, Avintia, Petronas SRT, Tech3 and Gresini Aprilia – as well as the squads in Moto2 and Moto3. The total cost of the package, which is due to be rolled out for at least the next three months, equates to €9.075 million.

Below is the breakdown of this package, but first an explanation of where we’re at right now with the schedule...

When will the MotoGP season start?

MotoGP did manage to get its Moto2 and Moto3 season-openers in Qatar last month in the books, courtesy of both championships already being in the country for their final pre-season test a week before the grand prix.

Start action, Enea Bastianini, Italtrans Racing Team leads

Dorna takes great pride in its feeder classes, perhaps more so than most other world championships in motorsport.

In 2020, 16 teams race in Moto3 while 15 compete in Moto2. Their financial situation is much more precarious than MotoGP’s, with the majority of those teams’ finances coming from sponsorship. Dorna has pledged a total of €775,000 for all of its Moto3 teams and €750,000 for its Moto2 squads, which is divided up as €25,000 per rider per team.

Over the next three months, Dorna will inject a total of €4.575m into Moto2 and Moto3 in a bid to keep them stable during this unprecedented situation.

What happens after three months?

In an ideal world, coronavirus will be well into its last throws and the world will be well into returning to normal, with racing resuming sometime in July.

If that proves to be the case, the money Dorna has given out to teams will be deemed an advance on its end-of-season participation payouts. However, in the more likely scenario that the hiatus continues for longer, Dorna – working with its parent company Bridgepoint Investment, as well as the Public Pension Funds of Canada – will offer out a total of €3m to teams.

With Dorna also not generating the income it would expect due to the lack of racing, it’s natural that its financial aid would have to decrease in order to ensure its own survival.